Thursday, January 8, 2009

Arcade Saga part 10: Decap Attack

There are a lot of random games out today, Kirby, Kabuki Quantum Fighters, Bubble Bobble, and you get the idea. A lot of games have weird concepts, and they are usually pretty fun games. One example is Decap Attack for the Sega Genesis. One reason why this is weird is because the America version is actually 100% different from the Japanese version that is actually based on the Japanese anime series, Magical Hat. It’s weird…oh well. S, how does this game stand up, in my opinion? Let us see.

The story of Decap Attacks revolves around a headless mummy named Chuck D. Head. Well, I wouldn’t say he is headless, since he has a face hidden in his gut. He was created by Doctor Frank N Stein to stop an evil twin of Chuck, known as Max D. Cap. What Max has done is take a whole island and separate it into a bunch of separate islands. It is up to Chuck to stop Max, and save the land. Decap Attack was developed by Vic Tokai. The only other games I know they have made are Golgo 13, and Clash at Demonhead.

The main game play of Decap Attack is a side-scrolling plat-former, where you control Chuck through multiple levels, and fight a boss, just like any plat-former has. Your main form of attack is, well, shooting your face at enemies and jumping on top of enemies’ heads. You also can find a head and make your attacks stronger. There are also mini-games where you can obtain potions and such. Other than that, there isn’t much to explain about Decap Attack’s game play style. I guess I’ll move on, then.

Graphically, I like the design of the characters and the main character of the game. It has a very cartoonish style and I like it. I also like how big the levels are, since it would be kind of boring if you just went on a straight path to the finish, unless that is your kind of thing. I also like the unusual nature of Chuck, since he is a zombie with a head in his stomach. The humor by today’s standards might be so stupid and cheesy, but they have a charm to them if you are a retro gamer. If you are not though, you will still get a small chuckle out of the jokes within the game.

There are a couple of things, though, that holds this game back from being a franchise for the Genesis. For one, the controls feel slippery. What I mean by this is that Chuck has a lot of momentum when he stops, and I end up running into enemies a lot, and it’s just annoying at times. Enemies also hit you a little too easily. One thing is that your face attack is very limited, and it doesn’t have a good range. Without finding your skull, you’re just begging for more power-ups, and I wish there was a bone launcher or something. Even though the levels are big, in my opinion, new gamers could easily get lost because it gets confusing about where you need to go.

All and all, this game doesn’t have the makings of a memorable game, but this game is worth checking out, and I personally like it. If you have a Genesis, I say pick up a copy of this game. If you don’t though, you can easily find it in the Sonic Ultimate Genesis Collection, or in one of the early Genesis collections. Even though this isn’t the best Genesis game, I think it’s a fun game and worth playing.